1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to dietary supplements. More particularly, the present invention relates to dietary supplement formulations that incorporate minerals, antioxidants, vitamins, and other ingredients in a dietary supplement having a long shelf life, high ORAC values, and good mineral solubility.
2. The Relevant Technology
The field of dietary supplements and nutraceuticals has exploded in recent years as scientific discoveries and public awareness campaigns have brought the health benefits of numerous dietary supplements to the consuming public's general awareness. Among the more popular forms for these dietary supplements are vitamin supplements, mineral-based supplements, and antioxidants.
Vitamin supplements are perhaps the most well-known and widely used dietary supplements. Vitamins are generally defined as organic substances that are essential to normal bodily metabolism, insufficient amounts of which in the diet can cause significant vitamin deficiency diseases. Vitamin supplements address the risk of deficiencies by including either specific vitamins, such as vitamin B, vitamin C, and vitamin E, or combinations of the individual vitamins in “multivitamins” that include up to dozens of the foregoing and other vitamins or supplements. The dosages of each vitamin in vitamin supplements range from small amounts, often a recommended daily value, to larger amounts when permitted by regulations. The amount of vitamins that are actually absorbed into the body as opposed to merely passed through the digestive tract, however, is subject to debate. Studies suggest that significant amounts of consumed vitamins are not absorbed and are therefore not of utility to the consumer.
Similarly, mineral supplements are also well known and widely consumed. In contrast to vitamins, which are organic substances, minerals, as they pertain to human nutrition, are inorganic chemical substances that are necessary to proper bodily function. Many minerals are required in small amounts for proper enzymatic function (and in the case of calcium, phosphorus, and other minerals, structural function) of the body. As with vitamins, deficiency of one or more minerals can cause a serious dysfunction of bodily systems. Examples of required minerals are calcium, chloride, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur and sodium. As used herein, the term “macro minerals” refers to those minerals that are widely known to be required for bodily function and that we need in the largest quantity.
The use of antioxidants in dietary supplements to improve bodily health is also increasingly prevalent. Generally, an antioxidant is a chemical which combines with free radicals and/or other chemicals that release free radicals that would otherwise attack molecules in the body, and abnormally oxidize them. Molecules that have been identified as susceptible to oxidants (and therefore may be protected by antioxidants) include DNA, RNA, lipids, and proteins. Examples of antioxidants include vitamins A, C, E, B-1, B-5, B-6, the amino acid cysteine, the food antioxidants BHT and BHA, and the minerals selenium and zinc.
Combinations of antioxidants are often found in relatively high levels in naturally occurring compounds. Such compounds that are touted as having an antioxidant effect are often measured in terms of their Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity (ORAC) value, which measures their antioxidant capacity. Typically, fruits with an ORAC value of greater than 1000 ORAC Units per 100 gm of fruit are considered to have a high ORAC value. For that reason and others, fruit juices are often included in dietary supplements.
Other dietary supplements include “trace minerals” and/or filvates. As used herein, the term “trace minerals” denotes those minerals that are required in much smaller amounts than the afore mentioned macro minerals, and are therefore often omitted from mineral supplements. In addition to specific function in human metabolism, trace minerals are often touted for conditioning the body for more ready absorption of other necessary food intakes, such as vitamins.
Although the distinction between the “macro minerals” and “trace minerals” can be blurry, trace minerals typically include within their scope numerous elements, including among others: boron, chromium, cobalt, copper, fluoride, iodine, lithium, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, tin, and vanadium.
Fulvates are highly active electrolytes created in symbiotic relationship with tiny soil microbes which help break down insoluble minerals and organic material to make it available again for use by living plants. Scientists postulate that fulvates also play a vital role in providing essential nutrients and trace minerals for use by the human body, turning inorganic mineral elements into readily absorbable and bioavailable charged nutrients. It is believed that after transporting their load of ionized minerals and nutrients to body cells where they can be converted into energy, fulvates exit the cells. As they exit, they bind to any toxic heavy metals that may exist in the cytoplasm of the cell. Fulvates also transport nutrients into cells, where they can be eliminated as waste from the body. Thus, it is believed that fulvates serve a dual role within the body—they deliver electrical energy, minerals and other nutrients to the body and clear out toxins, energy depleted nutrients and exhausted minerals from the cell.
Because each of the foregoing, vitamins, macro minerals, trace minerals, high ORAC compounds, and fulvates, are of great interest to consumers interested in increasing their health through the consumption of dietary supplements, it would represent an advance to provide supplements that include many of the foregoing in a single dietary supplement.
Recent scientific research, however, has led to the realization that the amount of active ingredients, including vitamins, macro minerals, trace minerals, high ORAC compounds, and fulvates, in a dietary supplement diminishes over time. This happens as the product degrades. Therefore, the amount of a particular ingredient (or its activity) that is listed on a product label may be increasingly less accurate over time. For that reason, the United States Government has issued regulations that require labels to reflect what is in a product at a given time as opposed to what ingredients are simply added as the product is prepared.
Preparing formulations of dietary supplement that include vitamins, macro minerals, trace minerals, high ORAC compounds, and filvates, and that maintains the listed levels of ingredients, is not a simple task. High acidity, mineral activity, antioxidant activity, and other aspects of these ingredients can cause one or more of the ingredients to quickly break down leading to a very short product shelf life. It would therefore represent an advance in the field of dietary supplements to provide a supplement that combines vitamins, macro minerals, trace minerals, high ORAC compounds, and/or fulvates in a single product with a long shelf life.
In addition, one common problem with liquid mineral supplements is the tendency for the minerals to precipitate out of solution. Although this may not cause a significant problem in terms of nutritional value for a consumer, it can be unsightly or unpleasant for consumption. It would therefore also present an advance in the art to provide a supplement that combines vitamins, macro minerals, trace minerals, high ORAC compounds, and/or fulvates in a single product with good long term mineral solubility.